Loop cutting machine



Feb. 3 1942 L. REI VHNGTON 2,271,529

LOOP CUTTING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 i510 ig gfgw w wz .Feb. 3,.1942.. L jFREWNGTO'N --2,271,'529

LOOP CUTTING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 jZ 22M, 5; 3 I.

' Feb. 3, 1942.

L. F. REMINGTON 2,271,529

LOOP CUTTING MACHINE Filed July 2 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

4 cutters;

Patented Feb. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOOP CUTTING MAoHiNE Leland F. Remington, Worcester, Mas's assignor to Curtis "& Marble Machine Company, Worcester; Mass a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 26, 1940, serial No. 347.718

13 Claims.

warp threads which form the spots are floated at the back of the fabric. The usual finishing shear will not trim warp-Wise loops or floatsuntil the loopsare first severed, so that the free ends can bedrawn up by suction for engagement by the shear cutters. It is accordingly found necessaryto run such fabrics through a loop cutting machine before they can be sheared and finished.

I It is the general object of my invention to provide a loop cutting machine of an improved construction and capable of operating at a substantially increased speed. A further object is to provide a machine in which reciprocating cutting parts are avoided, with corresponding absence of vibration at high speed. I

In the .preferredconstruction, I provide a plurality of rotating cutters each operative -,to cut theloops on a relatively narrow lengthwise strip of the fabric but collectively covering the full width of the fabric. I also make-special provi Fig. 10 is a artial plan view showing the cutter operation; and v Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic View showingthe overlapping arrangement of the raised strips across the width of the fabric. I

My improved loop cutting machine. comprises side frame members l0 (Fig. 1)v spaced apart by the usual connecting girders (notshown) and provided with a series of forwardly projecting brackets II on which are mounted transversely extending channel bars I2 which support a plu 7/ rality of cutter motors M and cutter-heads H, H

' is always sionfor presenting. the warp loo-pg t t spective cutters and for. holdingthecut end of one loop as the next successive loop is beingcut.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations ofparts which-will .be, hereinafterdescribed and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. A

A preferred form of the invention .is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. l is a side elevation of my. improved loopg cutting machine;

Fig. 2 is a partialfrontview, looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view,.lookirig in thedirection of the arrow 3 in'Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view,--lo'oking'in thedirection' of the arrow 4 in'Fig. l and showing the ar'- ran-gernent and distribution of the rotating loop Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic side elevation, showing the path of cloth travelv in my improved machine;

Fig. 6 is apartial front elevation of certain parts, taken alongfthe line 6-45 in Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged front elevation of av c'ut-' ter head;

Fig. 8 isa detail sectional view, taken along the line 8-8 in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a partial planview of a cutter blade support;

" head H is connected by a formed intwo parts which i p The detail construction .2 to the channel-bar and'H v v Each motor M is connected by a belt M (Fig. 4) to drive one of the cutter heads H; and each belt I5 to drive a sec In certain cases, the head belt IE to drive an Themotors and cutond cutter head H. H is connected by a third additional cutter head H ters .atthe rightof the centerline of the machine rotate clockwise, while those at the left 'r tate anti-clockwise, so that thecutting action toward. the nearer selvage. w The belts and pulleysare of the V type. and the pulleys 20 (Fig. l) on the motors M are each i may be moved axially toward or away from each other, so that the effective diameter of C the pulley may. be varied, with a corresponding variation in the, speed of the rotating cutter blades driven thereby. A bolt and slot connection is provided between each motor M and its channel bar (I2, so that the motor can be adjusted transversely of the machine to take up slack in the belt, when the ef-' fective diameter of a pulley 20 is changed.

of the cutter heads is best shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. Each cutter head comprises an upright shaft 22 (Fig. 8) rotatable in upper and lower ball bearings 23 and 24 mounted in a' fixedhousing 25, which is bolted I I2. Pulleys 21 and 28 arese-j cured to the upper end of the shaft 22 in each cutterhead H, and one or more pulleys corresponding to the pulley 28 are provided on the upright shafts in the heads, H and H A cutter bIadesupp rt-SQ is threaded on the lower end of the shaft 22. and isheld from relative rotation by a set-screw 3!, which seats itself in a longitudin'al groove-i2 in the shaft 22. The shaft 22' is provided with collars 34 and 35 (Fig. 8) which 10- cate the shaft 22 vertically and prevent vertical displacement.

Close vertical adjustment of the cutter blades cutter blade support 301 is secured by turning the 22, and by on the threaded lower end of its shaft retaining the angular adjustment by seating one of the screws 3| in one of the longitudinal grooves 32. As there are three equally spaced screws 3! and two oppositely disposed grooves 32, there is a locking position of the cutter head every 60, so that close vertical adjustment may be secured and retained.

Each cutter blade support is provided with three radial arms 31 having enlarged outer ends 38 each provided with a threaded stud 39 and with a pair of dowel pins 43. Each arm 31 is provided with a cutter blade 42 having an attaching portion 43 provided with openings for the stud 39 and dowel-pins 40. A wing nut 44 is threaded on each stud 39 and secures the cutter 42 in position.

Each cutter blade 42 (Figs. 7 and 9) has 9. laterally extending cutting portion provided with a beveled upper cutting edge 45 and with a rounded loop-engaging end 46. Each cutter. blade is curved in a horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 9, and is inwardly eccentric to a circular arc, for a purpose to be described.

The motors M and connected cutter heads H, H and H are arranged ina series of banks as shown inFig. 1, and each bankis provided with a pair of guide-rolls 50 and (Figs. 1 and 5). Each bank except the lowermost is also provided with an additional front guide-roll 52. Spaced sleeves 53 are provided on each guide-roll 50 or 5|, and these sleeves areheld in adjusted position by setscrews 54 seating in longitudinal grooves 55 in the guide-rolls. A nip roll 60 is provided to coact with the sleeves 53 on each rear guide roll 5|. The nip rolls 60 are mounted on swingingv arms 62 (Fig. 1) and rest freely on the cloth passing over the rear guide-rolls 5|. The machine is also provided with a lower guide-roll 64 (Fig. l) for the cloth C, and with a tension or drag roll 65 having an adjustable friction clamp 66, a guide-roll 61, a spreader roll 68, a guide-roll 69,.a spreaderroll 10 and guiderolls H and 12. The cloth C then passes over a driven drum 15 (Fig. 1), under a guide-roll l6, over an upper guide-roll TI, and past guiderolls 1 8 and 19 and a spreader roll 80 to a drum 8| above which a cloth roll R is formed by any usual winding mechanism not shown in detail and which forms no part of the present invention. 7 7

The winding drums-15 and 8| are belt-driven from a motor M .through a variable speed mechanism' 90 controlledby ahand wheel 9|.

Having described the details of construction of my improved machine, I will now explain the method of operation.

Assuming that the cloth C has been threaded through the machine and is being drawn upward by the winding drum 15, the cloth is first tensioned by the tension or drag roll 65, is then spread to full width by the spreader roll 68, and is drawn over the guide-rolls 50 and 5| associated with the lowest bank of cutter heads. Each coacting pair of sleeves 53 (Fig. 10) on these rolls is. aligned with the axis of the cutter head with which they are associated. These sleeves preferably 'have tapered end portions, as indicated at 53 so that the cloth will be drawn more smoothly thereover. The inner beveled end of eachsleeve 53!] (Fig. 6) which is adjacent the cloth selvage is preferably knurled, as indicated at 53!, to provide a limited spreading effect.

As the cloth C is drawn over a coacting pair of sleeves 53,a narrow longitudinal strip of the cloth will be raised or displaced above the normal plane of the cloth, as indicated at'C' in Figs. 6 and "10. f The cutter blades 42 are adjusted vertically so that theyfjust clear these raised strips of cloth and so that their rounded ends 46 will engage and pass under the floating warp threads W which form the loops. This action is indicated in Fig. 10, in which a loop is about to be severed by a cutter blade 42.

' At this same time, the severed ends of the last previously cut loop are held by the nip roll 60, so that these severed ends will not be pulled out of the fabric when thecutter blade 42 engages the next loop.

f It .willbe noted that the cutter blades of each head engage the loops only in a narrow longitudinal strip centered on the. axis .of the cutter shaft and extending a relatively short distance Theelectrical-connections of the machine include a main switch S (Fig. 1) by which the cloth feed motor M and all of the-cutter head motors M may be simultaneously started or stopped. A switch S is also provided by which the motors M may be held inoperative while the motor M I i only respondsto the switch S. This is ofadvantage in threading the machine.

I also provide a reversing switch S (Fig, 4) for the motors-M in each bank of cutter heads.

If the motors M are-in operation and any one of the switches S3 is manually reversed against spring pressure, the motorsM in the associated bank will be promptly reversed and will rotate in the reverse direction so long as the switch is held against the spring pressure, which tends to restore it to normal forward position.

The wiring connections from the power lines to the several switches and motorsare of ordinary arrangement and are not shown herein, as they form no novel feature of the present invention.

to each side thereof. Consequently the cutter blades move approximately perpendicular to the loops during the cutting operation. It will also be noted that the strip of cloth is not positively supported at the locus of action of the loopengaging head 45 but is stretched between two guide-rolls. Consequently the cloth can yield slightly when thus engaged and cutting or tearing of the cloth is avoided.

As the cloth C is being drawn in the direction of the arrowa in Fig. 10 during the cutting operation, it will be evident that if. the cutter blade were formed in a true circularv arc, the loop threads would be dragged crosswise of thecutting edge of the blade while cutting was taking place. As the entering end of the cutter blade is inwardly eccentric, however, the cutting .point on the blade moves rearwardlywith the cloth as the cutter blade advances through .the loop. With a suitable speed relatio'n between the angular movement of the cutter. blade andthe rearward movement of the cloth,..the .blademay be caused to complete the cut substantially at the point of initial contact with the loop and with complete avoidance of the dragging action above dein Fig. 11, sothat the cutters collectively operate over the entire width of the fabric. V

The additional front guide-rolls 52 (Fig. 5)

are provided so that the cloth may not, approach the guide-rolls 50 at an abruptangle; No guidei roll 52 is provided for the lowest bank, however,

as the spreader roll 68 serves the same purpose."

The strips C are more easily raised when the angle ofapproach is relatively slight. v

The manual control of themachinelisextreme ly simple. S is closed, the feed motor M may be operated to draw the cloth along for threading operations, without rotating the cutter heads. If the switch S is closed, he feedmotor M and cutter'head motors M will all be simultaneously controlled by the switch S.

When in the operation of the machine a transverse seam between tWo pieces of cloth approaches, the reversing switches S (Fig. 4) may be pushed successively to reverse-rotation of each bank of cutter heads as the seam passes'thereunder. By having a separate switch for each bank, the loop-cutting operations of each bank of cutters need be suspended only as the seam passes thereunder, whereas simultaneous reversal of all of the cutter head motors would necessarily keep all the cutters inoperative until the seam had passed all four banks, during which period a considerable length of cloth would have passed uncut.

The rate of cloth feed is controlled by the hand wheel 9|. It is obvious that the cloth may be fed more rapidly with relatively long floats than with short floats, as less loop-cutting operations per yard are required. The speed of rotation of the cutters in each bank of cutting heads may also be adjusted by varying the effective size of the driving pulleys 20, as previously described.

As the cloth passes upward from the guideroll 16 to the guide-roll H, it is preferably drawn over the black surface of an inspection-board I09, so that any uncut loop may be easily detected.

It has been the previous custom in loop-cutting If the switch S is open and the switch machines to use reciprocating knives which cannot be operated at high speed without excessive vibration.' The practical Working limit of such machines has been not over six or eight yards per minute, whereas my improved machine, which avoids the vibration of reciprocating parts," may be operated at speeds several times greater. Speeds of from thirty to forty yards per minute are found entirely practical.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not Wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In a loop cutting machine, means to temporarily raise transversely separated longitudinal portions of the cloth above the general plane of the cloth, and means to sever the warpwise loops in each longitudinal raised portion with the cutting portion of each severing means moving substantially transversely to the longitudinal path of travel of the cloth during the severing of each loop.

2. A loop cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough, means to raise narrow longitudinal strips of said cloth above the general plane of the cloth, and a separate rotating loop cutter for each longitudinal strip, adjacent longitudinal strips being positioned to overlap edgewise, and said strips collectively including the whole widthwise extent of the cloth.

3. A loop cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough, a plurality of loop cutters mounted to rotate about separate axes substantially perpendicular to the'plane of the cloth at the cutting locus and mounted in a series in which the loop-cutting fields of action overlap-transversely of the cloth, and means to rotate said cutters so thatthe cuting action of each cutter is toward the nearer selvage.

4. A loop cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough, guide-rolls disposed in pairs over which the cloth is drawn, said guide-rolls having portions of greaterdiameter coasting with the cloth to raise longitudinal strips thereof above the plane of the cloth, a cutter head for each raised strip, and cutter blades on each cutter head rotated above and closely adjacent one of said raised strips and effective to sever warpwise-loops thereon.

5. The combination in a'loop cutting machine as set forth in claim 4, in which each blade is formed in an inwardly eccentric curve in its plane of rotation and with its loop-engaging end rotating at the shortest radius.

6. A loop cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough, guide-rolls disposed in pairs over which the cloth is drawn, said guide-rolls having portions of greater diameter coacting with the cloth to raise longitudinal strips thereof above the plane of the cloth, a cutter head for each raised strip, and cutter blades on each cutter head rotated substantially parallel to the plane of said raised strips and closely adjacent one of said strips, said blades having upper cutting edges and rounded loop-engaging ends and being effective to pick up and sever warp-wise loops on said raised strips.

7. A p cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough, a plurality of loop cutting units mounted above said cloth and each rotated about a separate axis substantially perpendicular to the plane of the cloth at the cutting locus, motors for said cutters mounted at the sides of the machine and beyond the selvages of the cloth, and driving connections through which each motor rotates a plurality of said cutting units.

8. In a loop cutting machine, a plurality of rotated loop-cutting heads spaced apart transversely of the cloth and mounted in a plurality of banks spaced longitudinally of the cloth, means to feed and guide a piece of cloth under said heads and in planes substantially parallel to the planes of rotation of the cutters, motors to drive said cutters, and a separate manuallycontrolledmeans for each bank, efiective to simultaneously reverse all of the motors and cutters in said bank asa seam passes thereunder.

9. In a loop cutting machine, a plurality of rotated loop-cutting heads spaced apart transversely of the cloth and mounted in a plurality of banks spaced longitudinally of the cloth, and means to feed and guide a piece of cloth under said heads and in planes substantially parallel to the planes of rotation of the cutters, certain of said cutters rotating clockwise and certain of said cutters rotating anti-clockwise and each cutter rotating in such a direction that the loopcutting action thereof is toward the nearer selvage.

10. A loop cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough, and a plurality of loop-cutting heads mounted in separate banks, the heads in each bank being spaced apart transversely of the cloth and each head being out of longitudinal alignment with every other head, and said heads collectively coacting with the entire width of the cloth.

11. A loop cutting machine comprising means to feed and guide a piece of cloth therethrough,

a plurality of loop-cutting heads mounted in separate banks, with the heads in each bank spaced apart transversely of the cloth and with each head out of longitudinal alignment with every other head, said heads collectively coacting with the entire width of the cloth, and means to present a separate longitudinal raised portion of the cloth to each cutter head.

12. In a loop cutting machine, a plurality of rotated loop-cutting heads spaced apart transversely of the cloth and mounted in a plurality of banks spaced longitudinally of the cloth, and means to feed and guide a piece of cloth under said heads and in successive planes substantially parallel to the planes of rotation of the cutters.

13. In a loop cutting machine, means to draw a piece of cloth longitudinally through said machine at a predetermined rate of cloth travel, a loop-cutting blade rotating about a fixed axis substantially perpendicular to the plane of the cloth at the cutting point, said blade performing a cutting action in a direction substantially transverse to said longitudinal travel and having an elongated cutting edge radially positioned at a progressively varying distance from its axis of rotation, and means to rotate said cutting blade at a speed so correlated to the predetermined rate of cloth travel that the point on a loop engaged by a cutting blade will not be substantially shifted longitudinally of the cloth or loop during the loop-cutting operation of said blade thereon.

LELAND F. REMINGTON. 

